Intel Indonesia, a local unit of the world’s largest chip manufacturer Intel Corp., will focus its resources on developing the ultrabook market in Indonesia, believing that’s where the future of computer innovation lies.

Intel Indonesia’s director for strategic business development, Harry K. Nugraha, says that ultrabooks will soon become the most sought-after gadget in Indonesia as more people will turn to portable, lightweight notebook that is capable of various high-performance tasks.

“In the future, you will see many innovations and improvements in ultrabooks because our core business will focus on the segment,” he said recently.

Intel Indonesia, for example, has distributed ultrabooks equipped with Ivy Bridge processors, a microarchitecture concept inside the processor capable of high-performance tasks but producing only moderate heat. The Ivy Bridge is especially known for having better endurance compared to its predecessor, the Sandy Bridge.

Ultrabook is a term first coined by Intel to define a highly portable computer that is sleek and lightweight but still possess high data processing capability. Its development is inspired by Macbook Air, a pioneer of razor-thin notebook that was first introduced by US technology giant Apple Inc. in 2008.

All of the products are more expensive than ordinary notebooks with identical specifications, but are less than 1.8 centimeters thick and weigh less than 1.4 kilograms.

“Ultrabooks are not only about its thinness and weight,” Harry said, pointing to the fact that an ultrabook is also equipped with the most recent computer technology, high data processing ability, long battery life and up-to-date security systems.

Among the companies to first venture into ultrabook market in Indonesia was PT Acer Indonesia, which introduced the Acer Aspire S3 in September last year.

“The market responded positively to the introduction of the Acer Aspire S3, as evinced by soaring demand,” Acer Indonesia marketing director Daniel Rustandi said when asked to comment on the sales of his company’s ultrabooks.

Daniel predicted that the demand for ultrabooks in the country would continue rise.

“There is still huge potential in the market. Ultrabooks are becoming the lifestyle essential for customers who need a thin but productive notebook,” he added.

The Taiwan-based company remains the ultrabook market leader in Indonesia, with at least 72 percent of sales in the country, according to the Gfk Group, a market research company.

Microsoft Surface is generating a lot of interest, "but interest was not necessarily leading to sales," Global Equities Research analyst Trip Chowdhry said in a note Monday.

Customers he spoke with are waiting for Microsoft to release a version of Surface running the Windows 8 operating system on Intel (INTC) chips. Current Surface models run Windows RT on low-power ARM (ARMH)-based chips.

Sales of Surface tablets would have been five times better than current levels had Microsoft shipped Windows 8 models first, he said.

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